Palestinian widow Salma Zidane (Hiam Abbass) is tending to her lemon grove when Israeli Defense Minister Navon (Doron Tavory) moves into the upscale home across the street. Navon’s security details immediately declare that the trees could become a terrorist hiding spot, and the stage is set for the film’s major face-off.
Navon is confident that Salma will uproot her lemon trees in exchange for financial compensation, but his wife, Mira (Rona Lipaz-Michael), realizes that razing the trees threatens her neighbor’s dignity and livelihood. In fact, the film’s strength comes in the surprising parallels between the two women — both struggling to cope in a patriarchal society — and the sense of disappointment that their paths never converge.
In an unorthodox move, Salma sues the minister, and the land dispute goes all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court. Abbass is at her best during the film’s emotional moments: she ranges from being stoic and tenacious in legal proceedings to being charming and romantic in the affair with her young lawyer (Ali Suliman).
A hybrid between the newspaper headlines of the Middle East crisis and the fictionalized drama of Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard,” director Eran Riklis’s work, Lemon Tree, personalizes an impossibly large ethnic conflict. If the film comes across as too strong, it is only because so many skilled actors are fighting for screen time. In the end, the multifaceted storyline and nuanced performances by Tavory, Suliman and Abbass combine to make an entertaining and, ultimately, optimistic piece of political cinema.
